Sips and Snacks on the High Seas

We interrupt these winter holiday festivities to bring you thoughts about the tropical paradise that awaits me in a mere five months!

It's no secret that I love to eat. In fact, it is often one of the highlights of my vacation (which is probably part of my problem, but let's not go there!) And one of the "advantages" of taking a cruise is that it is "all-inclusive" and your meals are already factored into the price of your ticket. Not just three meals a day, but pretty much all you can eat. There are a few exceptions that are optional, but if you want, you never have to pay for anything to eat or drink, and you generally will not be left wanting!

The first (and most obvious) of these exceptions is alcohol. Obviously, this is not a necessity. If you want it, it is there. And you don't have to carry cash because everything goes on your onboard account. This is very handy when you're out by the pool and someone has a large tray of fruity concoctions and all it requires is a signature. But they do add up quickly. There are some opportunities for free drinks, such as the Captain's Cocktail Party or the previous cruisers' reception. And you are allowed to bring 1 bottle of wine per person in your carry on. I haven't ever brought wine with me, but I'm thinking I will this time. Technically you aren't allowed to bring hard liquor on with you. If you buy any, it is supposed to be held until the end of the cruise. Of course, I have noticed that everyone seems to need their Costco-sized bottles of Listerine when they cruise. Also, the bottle of peroxide and rubbing alcohol. Hmm...

Another expense that seems rather unfortunate to me is that of sodas! You can get tea or some juices or water, but not sodas. Not even one! And on some level that seems unfortunate for kids, because the adults who want it can get at least a little bit of free booze, but there are no free sodas at all for kids. Now, if you really need a carbonated beverage fix there are a few options. First, you can bring a few of your own. That to me is the least convenient option because it takes up space in your bag. Or you can wait until you get off the boat in a port and get something there. This is usually not any better than your third option, which is buying them on the boat. Now there are two ways to do this. You can either buy them as you order them. Or you can shell out for an unlimited soda card. I have read where it is no longer a separate card they give you, but a sticker for your sail and sign card. Either way, this entitles you to as many sodas as your little self can drink. Technically it's only supposed to be for the one person whose name is on it, but I know that sharing does take place. Even if I didn't want to share with my loving husband, he has a bad habit of not ordering a soda if he wants one, then waiting until I set mine down and promptly downing half of it! I figured it up, and given the average price of a soda on the ship, if you drink at least 3 a day, you do slightly better than break even. Any more than that, and you're ahead. They aren't huge, so I can pretty easily go through three in all the time hanging out between about 5:30 pm and bedtime. This doesn't count any down time in the afternoons (or the fact that I drink them instead of coffee in the mornings!), so to me it's a very worthwhile investment.

One new-ish thing on some of the larger ships is the steakhouse. Some people swear it's great and some don't think it's worth it. I'm planning to try it for myself, so I will make up my mind after that. There is an extra charge of $30 per person, and unlike the main dining room, you can't get as many of whatever that you want. The food is supposed to be better. For me, I think the atmosphere would be worth it. You can get a table for two (a very rare thing in a main dining room!) and I'm assuming the waiter's don't sing and dance and it's a much more formal atmosphere. Maybe I'm old fashioned and a stick in the mud, but a conga line at dinner is simply not appropriate! It's the one thing about the cruises that I really dislike! I'll reflect more on my past experiences as time goes on, and also do a full review after the cruise is over.

For those with more exotic tastes, there are things like the Sushi Bar. Some of the larger boats have more "specialized" restaurant offerings as well. All have the 24 hour pizza place, as well as ice cream and some other goodies. There are also the late-night buffets which can be a lot of fun. To me, half the fun of these is looking at them! There is some serious artistry that goes into these things and it's really interesting to see what some very talented people can do!

Then of course there is room service. The room service menu is pretty limited, but it is an option, and it isn't bad. That is the one "tip" that isn't included, and one of the few reasons you would need/want cash on the boat! There is no charge, but you are asked to tip the person that delivers the room service. To me, it's just as easy to go up to the Lido deck and grab something, but there are times of day when the only thing available is pizza or nothing sounds good and the room service is a nice option to have.

As far as this cruise goes, there isn't anything food-wise that I am just yearning for. If you have any favorites, let me know!

A Family Tradition

One of my most beloved family traditions that is relatively recent in its evolution (like, within the last ten years) is that of playing dominoes. Not only at holidays, but any time we get together for a meal and want to kill some time afterwards. We started with Mexican Train, but soon moved on to Chicken Foot.

Chicken Foot is actually a very simple game, but it requires a certain amount of strategy.

Every player starts with several dominos (for argument's sake I'm going to say 7, but a lot of this depends on the number of people you have playing and the size of your set)

You put a double in the middle, usually the highest number you have. Before anything else can be played, the two "chicken feet" need to be built off of this double. Think about a chicken foot and how it has three toes. Well, you have to build three toes off of either side of this double. See the double nine (the pink dots) in the picture? That's where you start and how you build two chicken feet!

Once the feet have been built, you can play anything you want.

If someone plays another double, you must build a chicken foot (three toes) off of that double before anything else can be played. In the picture, that's the double six (red dots).

If you can't play anything on your turn, you have to draw. That means if you're mid-foot and you can't put something on the foot but you can play somewhere else, you still have to draw because nobody can play anything else until the foot is constructed!

Keep going until someone goes out (doesn't have any more dominos left). Everyone else counts up the number of dots they have left. The goal is to have a low score.

If you get left with a double blank, that is 100 points, so you don't want to get stuck with that (but you don't want your opponents to be able to play it, either!)

In my family, we had an "extra" rule - every person had to have a "chicken domino name." We always fought over who got to be Nugget. My grandmother was always the Domiclucker. One favorite that came out of sheer madness was "Chicken Lil' Kim". Don't ask, because I have no idea!

What are some of your favorite family traditions surrounding holidays or get togethers?

Friday Five - Pie-ola

Today's Friday Five has us thinking about and discussing one of my favorite topics - FOOD! And not just any food, but holiday food. And not just any holiday food, but PIE! While I am not much of a baker, especially when it comes to complex stuff like pies, I am definitely a consumer. However, in my family we absolutely don't do pumpkin pie. Nobody eats it! We aren't huge fans of apple, cherry, or other fruits either! Pecan pie we will eat, but I haven't ever tried to make one from scratch. However, I am developing a few favorite recipes for no-bake pies that have almost become my "family signatures" so we'll see what happens in the days and weeks to come. Stay tuned as I share a few of those recipes if you think you might be interested in super-simple yumminess like Peanut Butter, Chocolate Truffle, Caramel, and Key Lime pies! (And no, the photo isn't mine, but it's so stinking cute I may have to start doing that with some of my creations!)

1) Are pies an important part of a holiday meal? Well, I won't speak for everyone, but as far as MY holiday meals I will say they are nice, but I wouldn't say they are essential. As tasty and fantastic as they are, I wouldn't be heartbroken if there wasn't a pie present! I like making my no-bake pies because it's something easy and tasty to contribute, and of course I welcome the pies of others, but I'm just as happy with cookies or cake or a bowl of ice cream!

2) Men prefer pie, Women prefer cake. Discuss. I don't know how true this is, again because of my limited experience. My dad is not a big dessert person but he actually really loves my great-aunt's Lane Cake. My husband will eat whatever it is he can get to on the dessert table! My brother is not as big a fan of sweets as he one was, but he will usually partake in a little something! My aunt probably prefers chocolate pie to just about anything, but likes chocolate anything over fruit anything. And me? Well, It's pretty hard to turn down a red velvet cake, but if there is a chocolate or key lime pie on the table I might just have to do it! We're a mixed bag all the way around.

3) Cherries - do they belong in a pie? I honestly couldn't tell you because I've never had a cherry pie. I'm typically not a fruit pie person, but I am learning! Now cherries on TOP of the pie, absolutely! But that's probably just because my pies are usually topped with whipped cream!

4) Meringue - is it best on lemon or chocolate? In terms of general family preference, I would absolutely say chocolate. But recently I have had a hankering for citrus desserts, and a lemon pie sounds really awesome, even though I don't think I have ever had a lemon meringue pie before in my 25 years!

5) In a chicken pie, what are the most compatible vegetables? Anything you don't like to find in a chicken pie? I am not a vegetable eater, but I do like potatoes in chicken pie. However, that's it! Anything green (except herbs) or orange or yellow I would rather not see! When I make chicken pie for my husband (which isn't all that often, but I will do it occasionally) I usually include peas, carrots, and corn. Occasionally broccoli will sneak in if we have just a little bit left in the freezer, but I still pick around all of it!

Un-Thankful

Yes, I am very thankful for lots of things in my life. But I also recognize that I forget to be thankful a lot more often than I remember (or am reminded) to be. I take a lot of things for granted. We all do. And even when we do try to make a list of the things we are thankful for that we probably do take for granted, I don't think we sit back and reflect on exactly what it means for us to have those things in our life or to be thankful for them.

I have intentionally avoided all the exercises on facebook and whatnot about listing something you are thankful for every day in November (or whatever it may be). It's not that I'm not thankful for things, because I am. But I think that exercise is lacking something really important. Because anyone can come up with a list of things they are thankful for. You start with the "elementary school answers" - family, friends, a home, pets, health, safety, religious/spiritual things, experiences. Then you usually move on to modern conveniences or good things that happen each day. But do you ever stop and think about WHY you are thankful for these things? Do you ever consider what it means for you to have these things and what thankfulness looks like in your life. Even more importantly, do you admit that you often take these things for granted and make a concerted effort to not take them for granted but to be intentionally more thankful in your lifestyle, rather than for just a few extra weeks?

I agree that a month of giving thanks is better than a single day, but what about a lifetime? Wouldn't that be the best thing possible?

Today my challenge to you is not to share things you are thankful for, but to really reflect on (and perhaps share) the things that you take for granted in your life. Think about why that is, what it means to have them in your life, and what thankfulness looks like. Then think about what you are going to do in the coming year to be more thankful, not just for these things you take for granted (although that's a great place to start!) but in all the areas of your life!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't forget to count your blessings and enjoy some family time!

Friday Five - Unexpected Thanks

Ok, I really haven't been as much of a slacker as it appears. My internet has simply not wanted to cooperate today, but I have been marinating on the topic for a few hours. Today's Friday Five invites us to consider the things that have been unplanned/unexpected blessings in our lives. It's probably no surprise to many that I am a little bit of a control freak. I don't like the unexpected or the unknown. But I have been very fortunate to have been given some blessings I was not planning for, in spite of my best efforts to avoid them! So here is my list of five for which I am very thankful!

OneWed Forums - I found this little grouping of message boards as I was planning my wedding. I stumbled across several as I searched for advice, but this is the first one I found where people were polite in spite of differing opinions and seemed genuinely interested in helping one another, not proving that "my way is best." So I joined up, asked a few questions, and started answering others. Pretty soon I had a journal, was playing along with stuff totally not wedding related and getting very close to some of these amazing ladies. I was not at all expecting to find long-term friends in the planning of my wedding, but a year and a half later I still feel like my day is incomplete if I don't check in with "my girls"!

My CPE Group - I was very nervous going into my residency because I had absolutely no idea who my companions were going to be on this journey. I am so incredibly thankful for the group in which I have found myself. Although this is probably not a group I would have chosen for myself, it has proven to be incredibly helpful and supportive, even in the short time we have been together so far. I am more thankful for this group of colleagues than I will probably ever be able to say!

Patches - I was never a big dog person. Or at least I never thought I was a big dog person. We weren't even thinking about a new pet when we got the phone call from Jeff's mother to come see the puppies someone had brought to her office. But I really am totally in love with this guy, even if he did eat way too much of my stuff last year. His sweet eyes and funny antics make my life and my family so much richer! I am so thankful for him, even if I tend to forget that when he wants to go out at 6am!

In-Laws - I never expected to have a fabulous set of in-laws. I always kind of figured they were sort of like one of those little make up gifts with purchase. There may be one or two things in the package that you really like, and the rest of it you don't care much about but it's there and you just kind of deal with it one way or the other. But despite our "getting-to-know-you" bumps in the road, my in-laws have been really fantastic. I'm especially blessed that not only do I have lots of fabulous relatives by marriage, I also have some great "friends-in-law" too that came as a part of my relationship with Jeff. All the way around, it has been an unexpected blessing!

Rosemary - Yes, I am talking about the herb here. I love the taste, the smell, and the plant on my back porch! I have no idea how or where this came into my life, but I do know that it has sparked all kinds of creative endeavors that have been incredibly fun and educational and I'm sure I wouldn't have had any of them if it weren't for this one little plant!

Gray Matters

It is an amazing and powerful thing when all of creation seems to mimic and magnify our thoughts and feelings. But with power, comes danger. I experience a lot of this a little more closely than I would like on gray and gloomy days. The truth is, I often experience lots of uncomfortable thoughts and emotions on these days. Just as when images are magnified they are brought into sharper, clearer focus so are emotions and memories and experiences.

Too often I try to shy away from the gray and gloomy parts of my self. I try to only show and share the bright and sunny parts. But the truth is, there are lots of gray, gloomy, rainy parts of my heart and soul and spirit. And just like the beauty of flowers and trees need the rain and darkness just as much as they need the warmth and sun, my spirit needs the gray parts too.

I've been struggling with lots of things for lots of months. For the most part life is grand and glorious. But there are some things that are not so grand and glorious. Many of you know that my dad has had cancer for several years and he has recently started to decline pretty steadily. I know what is happening. I know what is coming. But I still don't like it. I don't like where we are, I don't like where we're going, and I don't like the space between here and there. I'm not really crazy about the space on the other side of "there" either.

I am determined, in this time, to not be my dad's chaplain. To not be his pastor. To not be his caregiver at all. I will simply be his daughter. But I'm not really sure what that will look like for either of us. And I'm afraid it may be too late when I figure it out. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try.

And if the gray start to becomes too dark, I have lots of wonderful lights in my life to help make it a little less scary!